A Night Out Rescued by a Quick-Thinking Organizer
When the captain of the Steamer Aberdeen failed to show for a boating party, the Cotillion Club refused to let their evening go to waste.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
On Thursday evening the Cotillion Club was to have had a boating party on the steamer Aberdeen. The captain of the boat did not, however, put in an appearance and so the club, not to be outdone, engaged Rinke's hall and held a dance there, which certainly had a consoling effect upon the ladies. Mr. Gibbon came to the rescue, hired Rinke's hall with as cool deliberation as though he was ordering a brigade in a stern and bloody battle, and sent the lunch up in a special car.
“The ladies were in despair, but Mr. Gibbon came to the rescue, hired Rinke's hall... and sent the lunch up in a special car.”
Spontaneous shifts in event planning remain a staple of Seattle social life, though we are less likely to describe hiring a hall as 'ordering a brigade in a stern and bloody battle.' It highlights the reliance on water-based transit for social events in the 1890s before the city's regrades and road infrastructure dominated local travel.
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